This invention relates to a nozzle arrangement for an ink jet printhead. More particularly, this invention relates to a nozzle arrangement for an ink jet printhead, the nozzle arrangement incorporating a linear spring mechanism.
The Applicant has invented an ink jet printhead that is capable of generating text and images at a resolution of up to 1600 dpi.
In order to achieve this, the Applicant has made extensive use of micro electro-mechanical systems technology. In particular, the Applicant has developed integrated circuit fabrication techniques suitable for the manufacture of such printheads. The Applicant has filed a large number of patent applications in this field, many of which have now been allowed.
As a result of the fabrication techniques developed by the Applicant, it has become possible for the Applicant to achieve printheads that contain up to 84000 nozzle arrangements. In most of the embodiments, each nozzle arrangement includes one or more moving components which act on ink in a nozzle chamber to eject that ink from the nozzle chamber.
Applicant has found that a particular difficulty to be overcome in such nozzle arrangements is the transformation of motion from one part of a nozzle arrangement to another part of the nozzle arrangement. The microscopic size of the components used in such nozzle arrangements provides a manufacturer with a limited degree of freedom when designing such nozzle arrangements. It follows that it is often necessary for motion that is generated in one part of the nozzle arrangement to be transferred to another part of the nozzle arrangement. In order to address this difficulty, the Applicant has conceived the idea of using a particular spring configuration to achieve the desired transformation of motion.
According to the invention, there is provided a nozzle arrangement for an ink jet printhead that is the product of an integrated circuit fabrication technique, the nozzle arrangement comprising
a substrate; and
an actuating mechanism that is arranged on the substrate, the actuating mechanism comprising
an anchor member that is fast with the substrate;
an effort member that is displaceable with respect to the anchor member;
a resiliently flexible connector that is fixed between the anchor member and the effort member, the connector, the anchor member and the effort member defining a linear spring so that a force applied to the effort member in a first direction relative to the anchor member results in constrained displacement of the effort member in a second direction relative to the substrate, the second direction having at least two vector components, one of which is in said first direction and another is in a third direction at right angles to said first direction with the displacement of the effort member incorporating substantially no rotational movement; and
an effort mechanism that is arranged on the substrate and is operable on the effort member to apply said force to the effort member in said first direction.
The invention extends to a printhead that incorporates a plurality of the nozzle arrangements.
The invention is now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific nature of the following description should not be construed as limiting the scope of this summary.